Chapter 14: Nemesis
“She's fine,” Redheart said as she examined Rainbow Dash. “She's just exhausted.”
“Thank the gods,” Scootaloo said.
“So what's the damage?” Applejack asked.
“Twelve dead, most injuries have been healed, but a few will need hospitalization,” Redheart replied.
“Thirteen dead,” Zhatka said as he and his squad approached, laying Koph's body with the others.
“Oh, Z, Ah'm sorry,” AJ said.
“Don't be,” said Umi. “He died well. We shall not mourn his death, but celebrate his bravery and prowess. May we all be granted such glory.”
A moment of silence passed over the group.
“So, what now?” Applebloom asked after a few minutes.
Applejack thought for a moment. “Hey, Jacob. The gate's still open, but ain't no one comin' out.”
Jacob looked at the glowing orb, just over two hundred yards away. “That's not right. If they retreated, they should have closed the gate. I don't like it.”
“Maybe the archives have been destroyed?” Sweetie suggested as she trotted up from the forest with Storm following just behind, looking rather nervous.
“Storm?!” Applejack yelled. “What the hay are you doin' here?! Your aunts would tan your hide if they knew.”
“I-I just couldn't sit back with the others while Scootaloo was fighting... I'm sorry,” said the colt.
“I found him when I was looking for Scootaloo,” Sweetie explained.
“Well, never mind for now.” Applejack shook her head before turning back to her human friend. “What do you think, Jacob? About the gate?”
“They won't be able to send many through at a time, which would be suicide with us still here,” He answered. “I'd say we won. We should still stay here, though, in case more try coming through or David or Twilight are hurt.”
Applejack looked back at the humans that had surrendered and then to the portal. She turned to them and announced, “Alright y'all Kordans... Kordanians? Y'all humans! Y'all wanna go back to your homes, then get. If you guys are like Jacob here and are tired of the place, we'll work with ya to get you settled here.”
The humans looked at her, then cast furtive glances at each other. Most sprinted for the gate, as if they thought it was a trap. A couple dozen, though, stayed where they were.
“If you stay, don't think you'll be given free reign,” Sweetie added. “You'll be under probation for quite a while. Meaning you'll be fitted with a device that allows us to track you wherever you go.”
A few more stood up and headed for the gate.
Applejack nodded. “Alright. All you in the reserves, and Zhatka's squad, get these guys to Canterlot.”
“Ma'am,” the ranking officer, a pegasus, replied with a salute before getting the humans properly restrained.
“Medics, Redheart and one other, hang back. The rest of y'all, take the dead to town so they can get ready for a proper funeral. Oh, and take Storm with you,” AJ finished with a stern glare at the colt.
“At once,” replied a unicorn mare.
“The rest of us'll be waitin' for Midnight and Twilight... Ah just hope they're okay.”
“With them two, what could go wrong?” Applebloom asked.
Sweetie groaned, “You know, one day you're going to have to learn to stop doing that.”
“What?”
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Aurora sat alone in the shelter under town hall. Her friends, Pound, Pumpkin, and Tulip, were playing together elsewhere. They asked her if she wanted to join them, but she didn't feel like it. The truth was, she was scared. She knew her mom and dad were fighting bad guys, but not like the other ones. These ones were really, really dangerous.
“Aurora,” said a voice. The filly jumped at the suddenness, looking around for the source.
“Who-who's there?” she asked.
“It's alright, Aurora, I'm a friend,” said the unseen lady. “I need you to listen to me very carefully. Your mother and father are in danger. They will need you.”
“Wh-what?” Aurora's voice broke as tears started to well up in her eyes. “A-are mommy and daddy going to die?”
“No, not if you go, now.”
“But what can I do? I'm too little.”
“Don't worry, little butterfly. Just go, and everything will be fine.”
The little girl took a deep breath to steel her nerves and made for the door. She took a quick look around to make sure nopony was watching and slipped out.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Twilight had seen a great many things from her husband. She had seen tears, anger, joy, nervousness, and just about every other emotion one could have. One thing she had never seen from him, though, was abject horror. The very thought of something terrifying him so much he quivered was hard to even comprehend. Upon turning towards the speaker, however, she shared his fear.
The creature was not quite as large as she had assumed he would be, only a head taller than Jacob. The only clothing it wore was studded leather leggings that covered everything from waist to knee. The rest of its red-orange body was left bare. Large tattered wings adorned its back and a pair of long, curved horns on it's forehead swept back along its head. Its eyes were black pits with crimson pupils. Twilight had heard enough about this creature for her to know exactly who he was; Nag-Ta, the demon lord that killed Midnight's first wife and daughter.
“I missed you, dad,” it said, its smile displaying its razor sharp teeth. “You disappeared before we could finish playing.”
“T-Twilight,” Midnight said with a stutter. “Run... now.”
“But-”
“Run now!”
Twilight's body seemed to act on its own, taking off at a sprint toward the gate. Midnight quickly hit the last button, arming the bomb, and launched a ball of light at the demon lord. He dropped the explosives and turned to run. Not even two steps and he felt something collide with his back, launching him through the portal.
The world swirled around him. Up, down, left, right; none had meaning in the space between worlds. The disorienting feeling, however, only lasted a few seconds before he was deposited on the scorched earth just as the energy of the gate collapsed, cutting them off from his old world.
Before he could get to his hooves, a large, clawed hand wrapped around the back of his neck. The ground fell away as he was hoisted into the air, soon to find himself facing his nightmare.
“I love the new look, father,” the demon said. “You're so fuzzy and soft. Perhaps I'll make a cloak from your hide.”
A green bolt of energy slammed into the demon's head, staggering him slightly. His glare landed on Sweetie, horn still glowing with arcane energy.
“I see you made new friends,” Nag-Ta observed. “How lovely.”
With a swipe of his hand, a wave of force washed over the field, slamming into everyone and sending them soaring through the air. The only ones not rendered unconscious by the attack were Applebloom and Applejack.
Nag-Ta slammed Midnight into the ground. Applebloom charged the demon with her hammer raised, despite her elder sister's warning. The yellow filly leaped at the monster with a battlecry. Nag-Ta just smiled as his fist shot forward, smashing into her face, sending her back to her sister. The two hit and rolled several hooves before stopping, joining their friends in unconsciousness.
With everyone incapacitated, Nag-Ta turned his attention back to his 'father'. “You've made a lot of friends.” The demon inhaled the stallion's sent deeply. “What's that I smell? Not just friends! Did you find me a new mother?” Another whiff. “You did, didn't you? Was it the purple one you were with? Or maybe the yellow one that just tried to attack me?”
“F...Fuck you,” Midnight managed to say.
“What a thing to say to your child,” Nag-Ta chided.
“You're... Not my child.”
“You wound me. Was it not you who brought me into this world? Were you not the reason for my rebirth? My existence is thanks to you, is it not?”
“You're an accident, nothing more,” Midnight answered.
“What an awful thing to say,” the monster said with a grin. “I think you need to be punished.”
Midnight's breath was forced from his lungs as a fist crashed into his chest.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Filly hooves pounded through the forest, her fear of the forbidden wood, quickly replaced by her fear of losing her parents. She didn't notice that everything there was to fear was strangely absent. She just ran on, as fast as her short little legs could carry her.
Eventually, the trees vanished, giving way a massive, charred field. She had never been in the Everfree Forest, but she knew this wasn't normal. Her mommy and aunties had told her enough about their adventures and never once mentioned anything like this.
Her musings were cut short at the sight before her. Her mommy, and aunties were all laying down, not moving, and a big scary monster was holding her daddy, punching him. Anger boiled up in her tiny body and she charged.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
“Are you going to apologize to me now, father?” Nag-Ta asked, mockingly.
“F-fuck... You,” the stallion replied.
“But father, that would be incest.” Another fist, to the face this time. “You know, I was finished with you. You finally understood true pain, and I was going to release you from it. Now, though... Now you've forgotten my lessons. You have let yourself believe that you can have peace. Now, I have to start the lesson over.”
“Drop my daddy!” Midnight's eyes widened in fear as a tiny voice yelled, a light thumping from a small hoof hitting the demon's foot.
“Oh my...” Nag-Ta said, his voice ecstatic. “Is that what I think it is?”
“N-no! Leave her out of this!” Midnight begged.
The demon's hand shot out, snatching the filly up by her mane, causing her to yelp in shock and pain. He brought her close and sniffed her. “It is! You've made another little toy for me. Let's see if we can make this one last longer than the last one. Fire is too quick, wouldn't you say? I didn't even get to savor little Tiffany's cries last time.”
“Why don't we try-Ahh!” Nag-Ta cried as an arrow sprouted from his eye.
Midnight barely spared the minty mare in the distance a glance before lighting up his seal, conjuring a blade. This bladed disk found the demon's fore arm and sliced into the flesh. The demon cried out again as the four year old was released from his clutches.
“You bitch!” the demon yelled at the mare, but she had already vanished. Another arrow buried itself into his ear. He dropped Midnight and whipped his hand toward the swift unicorn, launching a blast of magic her way. To his satisfaction, he heard the mare yelp.
“That's it, no more games,” Nag-Ta hissed. “I'm going to destroy everything you hold dear. Then, maybe you'll understand the weight of your sins. You'll know the punishment for enslaving a god.” He looked at the scared little filly, frozen with fear. “And I'll start with the girl.”
He thrust his hand toward the foal, unleashing a tongue of hellfire, completely engulfing her. Midnight Cried out in anguish as he was powerless to stop history from repeating itself.
Except...
“No!” Aurora yelled out through the inferno. “I won't let him hurt mommy or daddy or anypony!”
A blinding white light suddenly flashed, bringing with it a maelstrom of wind and kinetic force that snuffed out the wicked fire as if it were just a match. Even the ground shuddered at the force of the child. The little filly's form raised up, eyes glowing white, her whole body engulfed in a lavender aura much like that of a unicorn's horn, except pale blue runes seemed to dance and swirl within.
“What the hell is this?” Nag-Ta asked no one in particular. With a roar, he charged the filly.
The wind suddenly changed direction, being pulled into Aurora. The demon felt something he had never experienced at the sight of all that magic pulled into one tiny point at the tip of the filly's horn.
Fear.
So close, he could feel the intense energy radiating from it. It was an energy made of purity, light, and the love of her family and friends. But that wasn't where is fear came from. His fear was from a familiar scent of magic that he hadn't smelled in eons, yet could never forget.
“Mina.”
And the holy light was released, engulfing the the arch-demon, Nag-Ta in its cleansing power.